Mr. Bones' identified as a homeless man

OTTUMWA - A full skeleton recently found in the basement of an abandoned hospital in Ottumwa has been determined as that of a homeless man who lived decades ago.

The skeleton, dubbed "Mr. Bones," originally had been used by the University of Iowa College of Medicine as a cadaver in classes.

Jackie Moll, chairwoman of the St. Joseph's Hospital Schools of Nursing and X-Ray Alumni, said she doesn't know when the skeleton came to the school, but that at least one graduate remembers it from her freshman year in 1943.

Moll graduated from St. Joe's in 1962.

An orthopedic surgeon has confirmed Mr. Bones was a man and was in his mid-80s when he died. Officials said further identification is impossible.

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